There will be another contested race on the Columbus ballot in November. Our news-gathering partners at The Republic are reporting that Bartholomew County Democrats have selected attorney Katea Ravega to run in the City Council District 3 race.

The 42-year-old Ravega, is a 1995 Columbus East High School graduate, received her bachelor’s from Valparaiso University and her law degree from Georgetown University, according to the newspaper. She is a partner at the Quarles & Brady law firm in Indianapolis..

District 3 represents north eastern Columbus including Columbus Regional Health, the area between National Road and 25th Street and northward on Taylor Road. The district is currently represented by Republican Dave Bush, who won his party’s nomination last week. Bush has held the seat since December, when he replaced Councilman Frank Jerome who moved out of the district.

Retired educator Nancy Hoover had originally filed to run for the District 3 seat as a Democrat, but had to back out of the race due to health reasons.

That means Democrats will be fielding candidates in all the City Council seats except District 1. Democrats still have no candidates for mayor or clerk-treasurer.

A North Vernon man died in a Saturday crash on State Road 7.

51-year-old Matthew L. Lonsberry was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash by the Jennings County Coroner’s office.

Indiana State Police say that Lonsberry was driving southbound in his pickup at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon near Private Road 625W, when the truck went off the west side of the highway, striking a utility pole and flipping over.  Lonsberry and a passenger, 52-year-old Mary Lonsberry were trapped in the wreckage and had to be rescued by emergency personnel. Mary Lonsberry was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital with serious injuries.

In commemoration of National Police Week, a memorial service to honor law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty will be held on Friday, May 17th at 9 a.m. at the Public Safety Plaza near Second Street and Jackson Street in Columbus.

During this short ceremony, officers will read the names of 163 police officers and 28 police canines who were killed in the line of duty during 2018. A wreath will be placed at the memorial in honor of five Indiana law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty last year. This year’s event will feature area law enforcement Honor Guards, bagpipes, a “21 gun” salute, and the playing of taps.

You are encouraged to attend.

State Road 3 patching and paving is scheduled to begin Monday in Jennings County. The Indiana Department of Transportation says that crews will begin with asphalt patching in various locations from the State Road 3/State Road 7 split south of Vernon to approximately .85 miles south of U.S. 50 in North Vernon. Once patching is complete, crews will begin milling and resurfacing the roadway.

Lane restrictions will be in effect along the route while work is being completed. Flaggers will be present to help maintain traffic. Be prepared for delays.

The expected completion date is June 30th.

Bartholomew County REMC has announced planned power outages on May 14th and May 16th in the Waymansville area.

The REMC says those affected will be located south and west of Mt. Healthy Elementary School. This will affect the areas of Lutheran Lake and Hillview Subdivision and other homes in the Waymansville area located west of State Road 58 and south to the Jackson County line. Members who will be out of power will receive a phone notification.

Officials say they must shut off power to make upgrades to the transmission line to prevent future safety and reliability issues. There will be two separate planned outages to complete this work. They are:

The first outage will occur on Tuesday, May 14th from 3:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The second outage will occur on Thursday, May 16th from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

The Bartholomew County REMC has supplied the attached map. The red areas on the map shows those that will be affected.

Two people suffered minor injuries in a Thursday night crash that closed southbound I-65 for nearly two hours.

Indiana State Police responded to the scene near the 54 mile marker in Jackson County shortly after 11 p.m. Investigators believe that a semi and trailer driven by James Radford, 32, Stamps, AR was traveling southbound in the right lane of I-65, just south of exit 55. Authorities say that a Mercedes, driven by Armajeet Luthra, 72, Louisville, was traveling on the right shoulder of the interstate, trying to pass the semi.

Both vehicles then entered an area of the construction zone where the lanes shift to the right, eliminating the shoulder. Radford’s trailer collided with Luthra’s vehicle, pinning it against the concrete barrier. Luthra was trapped in the vehicle until emergency personnel freed him. He was taken to Schneck Medical Center for minor injuries. Radford was not injured.

ISP say that no citations have been issued at this time, adding that the investigation is ongoing. No alcohol or drugs are suspected as being factors in the crash.

Columbus police are continuing to search for a young man missing since last May 3rd.

22-year-old Timothy Duckworth of Columbus was last seen at Ceraland Park. His abandoned vehicle was found Saturday, May 4th, at the park.

Authorities searched that area Friday evening, Saturday, and again Tuesday, without locating Duckworth.

Lt. Matt Harris says that foul play can not be ruled out.

If you have seen, heard from, or had any contact with Timothy Duckworth since the evening of May 3, or have any information regarding his whereabouts you are urged to contact the Columbus Police Department at (812) 376-2600.

Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. buses are the first in the state to get new features meant to protect students.

The school district showed off the new safety features yesterday. Karen Wetherald, transportation director for BCSC, explains some of the new equipment.

Those safety features include a collision avoidance system, 360 degree cameras and a computerized stability system that will slow and level buses to keep them from rolling over in a high-speed turn.

The anti-collision equipment uses a camera and computer to scan travel lanes, other vehicles and road signs to provide warnings of upcoming dangers. The 360-degree camera system, with cameras mounted high atop the buses give a seamless view of the area surrounding the bus. The camera view is displayed in the same area as the bus’ rear-view mirror.

The new Thomas Built Buses each costs about $118,000, with less than $5,000 of that amount coming from the new safety features, school officials said. This year, BCSC added eight new buses to its fleet, all equipped with the safety features. Wetherald said that if the features work as well as expected, the district will continue to have the new safety features installed as part of future bus purchases.

School officials say that more than half of the district’s school buses are now equipped with seatbelts, or 76 of the district’s 131 buses. Wetherald said it was determined not to be financially feasible to retrofit older buses with seat belts, but all new buses going forward will have the equipment.

Clifford Zehr, the president of Kerlin Bus Sales and Leasing of Silver Lake said that BCSC is the first district in the state to order buses with the new features. Because of that, the schools got special pricing for the pilot program.

Students will first be transported on the new buses this fall.

The Columbus City Council on Wednesday heard a presentation from Emergency 911 Center Director Todd Noblitt proposing the hiring of six new dispatchers. He noted that he currently has 24 dispatchers, a number that has been largely unchanged, since 2002. Noblitt noted that during this same period, emergency calls went up approximately 58 percent.

Noblitt’s proposal includes two hires this July, two in January of 2020 and the final pair in July of 2020. Under an interlocal agreement between the city and the county, Columbus will pay for 55 percent of these costs, while the county will cover the remaining 45 percent.

Council took no action. The Bartholomew County Council is scheduled to take up the matter at it’s meeting on Tuesday, May 14th. The city council is likely to hold a similar vote the following week. Both bodies would need to agree on the proposal before any hiring can take place.

A new scholarship has been announced. The African American Fund of Bartholomew County, in conjunction with IUPUC, has created a scholarship fund that will provide a student with $1,000 per year for four years to attend IUPUC. The student must be African American, must reside in Bartholomew County, and must be an incoming freshman to IUPUC.

“I am pleased that the African American Fund of Bartholomew County and IUPUC are partnering to establish a program to provide financial and advisory support to Bartholomew County African American students who attend IUPUC,” said Tom Harmon, President, African American Fund of Bartholomew County.

Organizers say the first scholarship is to be awarded for the 2019-2020 academic year. Each year, an additional scholarship will be added for a newly enrolled student, and existing students will be able to renew their scholarship for a total of four years, for a total of $4,000. In addition to the financial aid, students will have the opportunity to be mentored by local community leaders.

“The goal of the program is to help reduce the financial barrier for college attendance and to encourage local students to pursue and earn a college degree where they can receive both financial and non-financial support,” said Harmon.

For more information on scholarship requirements , visit iupuc.edu/aafbc-scholarship. Applications are due by June 1st, 2019.